Old Framingham home, barn must make way for development

Sunday

Dec 23, 2007 at 12:01 AMDec 23, 2007 at 11:03 PM

An 1840s-era Edmands Road cottage and barn could be on the move as part of a plan to build 150 apartments for senior citizens. Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly hopes to find someone to move the house and barn before construction on Shillman House begins, said real estate development manager Karen Margolis.

D. Craig MacCormack

An 1840s-era Edmands Road cottage and barn could be on the move as part of a plan to build 150 apartments for senior citizens.

Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly hopes to find someone to move the house and barn before construction on Shillman House begins, said real estate development manager Karen Margolis.

Proposals are due by Feb. 28. If no one comes up with a suitable plan, the buildings are likely to be demolished, she said.

Local history experts aren't sure what will become of what's called the Martin Bacon home, named for the 1880s-era constable who sold windmills and steam engines, or the barn on the same property that was once home to Nobscot Garage.

The buildings were put on the town's cultural resources inventory in the 1980s and are remnants of one of the oldest farms in Framingham.

"I'm hoping they find someone suitable to move the buildings so Framingham gets to hang on to this part of its heritage," said David Marks, chairman of the Framingham Historical Commission.

Commission members co-signed an agreement between the Massachusetts Historical Commission and the state Department of Housing and Urban Development allowing Jewish Community Housing's plans to move forward.

Under the National Historical Preservation Act, developers had to send photographic evidence of the buildings on the property at 49 Edmands Road to the state and local historical commissions and the Framingham Historical Society and Museum.

Annie Murphy, director of the museum, said her organization will not be putting together a relocation plan on the Bacon house and barn.

"We've got enough buildings to take care of at this point," she said.

Jewish Community Housing bought the property in 2004 and won approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals to build Shillman House several months later, despite opposition from neighbors who argued the traffic and demands on town services would be too great.

Officials received a second approval from the zoning board earlier this year when they removed an underground parking lot and made other minor changes to the plans.

MetroWest Daily News writer Craig MacCormack can be reached at 508-626-4429 or cmaccorm@cnc.com.